Book scores 26 for win as North Harrison wins 7th grade Harrison County Tourney; 8th grade is 2nd

Written by Administrator

Wednesday, 10 February 2010 00:00

The North Harrison Middle School 7th grade girls’ basketball team won the Harrison County tourney 42-33 last week at Corydon Junior High School, and 26 points by the Lady Cats’ Jill Book helped to seal the deal.
The Lady Cats were behind 6-4, when Book hit a three pointer, was fouled, and hit the free throw attempt to put her team ahead for good at 8-6.
North led by a slim 10-8 margin at the end of the 1st quarter and it was still a slim 17-13 edge for the Cats at the half time break.
In the second half, the 3rd quarter didn’t exactly do the Lady Cats any favors, as Corydon outscored them 9-8.
The Lady Cats got 10 points from Book in the final period as they pulled away from Corydon. Book had an old fashioned three point play, and hit on a total of 8 of 9 free throws in the 4th. Book hit on a 9 of 12 free throws in the game (75 percent).
Book scored consistently throughout the game, with 8 points in the 1st, a bucket in the 2nd, and 6 points in the 3rd.
Also scoring for the Lady Cats was: Megan Smith 6, Ashton Bosler 5, Kimberly Chiquito 2, Savannah Taylor 2, and Hayley Elliott 1.
Although the 8th grade team from North Harrison lost 40-26 to corydon in the final game, it was also the closest the 8th grade team has been to Corydon since they started playing each other in 5th grade.
North Harrison 8th grade coach Jerry Melton said that not scoring early probably hurt them as much as anything in the contest. The Cats were down 13-4 after the 1st quarter, and were down 24-7 at the half.
“I thought our girls played a really good ball game, although they didn’t score early,” said Melton. “It put us behind, and we had to play catch up the rest of the night.”
In the second half, the Cats started to close in on Corydon, and outscored them 8-6 in the 4th period.
Brittany Knight and Kendra Lambert shared lead scorer honors for the Lady Cats, with 7 points each.
Kenedy House added 6 points to the effort, and Shelby Austin and Maddie Janes added 4 and 2 points respectively.
Despite the loss, Melton thinks that the 8th grade players will do well in high school basketball, and said that with four seniors graduating after this season, there will be plenty of spots on the team open.
“I think they’re going to be fine,” Melton said of his 8th grade players. “Kendra Lambert could play strictly varsity next year, she’s that talented.”